pmiranda

I think a proper survey would be interesting to see. Most forums support that, or you could make one at survey monkey or the like.
Me, I've made over 150k salary for over a decade and I'm still too frugal to pay for business class outright for personal travel.
Sometimes on AA the miles to get it are not much more or the same as economy so I'll take the upgrade.
Just did a 14+ hour leg in economy plus for work and it was fine. power and enough room to open a laptop and I was able to get work done for 8+ hours.
The only way I can personally justify business class is an 8+ hour overnight leg and I try to avoid those anyway. I'd rather spend the money on a really nice hotel.
For work, economy plus has changed things so that unless you're a C-level exec or on a 8-hour+ overnight leg it's hard to justify the need.

dnwaldmann

My net worth is not quite that... but I also am 6'4" and can hardly move in an economy seat. Height is not the only factor - leg/torso proportions make a difference as well.

I always fly biz international and first domestic if at all possible. But I have never paid for a biz ticket and don't see doing it. As my biz flights are always personal (that sound funny...), I just keep looking until I find tickets before we make the rest of our travel plans.

George of the Jungle

Having sufficient wealth to buy business class tickets is different than income. Many wealthy people have vey little earned income - i.e., why would I work if I do not have to?

Also, it depends a lot on the purpose of the trip. If I am going to a work meeting, and I need to prepare, I can rationalize spending a little more if I can bill out most of the cost in hourly work - which is hard to do in economy. If it is leisure, then I am unlikely to splurge for the best seat, unless it is a true bargain or there is a good points deal. That is one reason why it is nice to earn status with airlines. So, even if you do not have the best seats, you are at least not stuck in the middle of a five row section. (Most of the people on the airplane are not sitting in first or business class, and most of them arrive at the same time as the up front class.)

Personal, I would not splurge for first class on a flight less than 2 hours, but i do take the status upgrades.

I suspect that most of the people in the up front seats are on a work trip, and the extra room justifies the cost. There may be a few that just have a lot of money. Personally, I have been frugal my whole life, and I would prefer to have an extra $5000 in my retirement savings than spend it on a better seat on a 10 your trip. E.g., if somebody offered me $5000 to downgrade from up front to move back a few rows, I would take the $5000, and pay for the rest of the trip

rankourabu

I agree with the poster - it is very easy to differentiate between people who don't pay for their own flights, ie. flying for work and those who are not. Especially on US/European airlines.



That's another thing. Even if its not an issue to buy a $5000 ticket, justification for it is hard. We are not going to spend $10000 on an airplane seat for a few hours. That same $10000 is going to pay for a few weeks of travel, travel far more luxurious than that flat bed on a flight for a few hours.

Of course, only a fool would spend $5000 on a ticket out of their own pocket when there are so many way of getting the same thing for much less using miles (and should immediately be banned from FT )

offerendum

Sometimes there is no other option or simply a lack of miles...... Also not every route is available with miles and for some it´s even worth a few thousands to fly without extra stop or from a more conveniant airport.

Disneymkvii

Just under 200k and I have never flown Biz. When I was younger and single, I couldn't justify the added cost of the seat against what that money could be used for at my destination. Even when i'm flying for work, and Biz is available, my employer will pay me cash to not take biz and i'll take that cash every single time.

While I may not enjoy the perks of unlimited drinks and extra meals in the air, I will retire a millionaire.

jsintexas

I retired this year. For the past 25 years I traveled globally for work as a Director of Engineering and later VP of Business Development.
My position in the company allowed me to book Business Class on any flight longer than 8 hours.
I used my upgrades when I traveled with my wife and family.

As for my income, it varied from year to year dependent on business, It was low 6 figures

77Wer

J is not quite a luxury product, so I don't think it correlates so well with income...there are many other factors as people have mention. I think you'll find better correlation with F.

As for me choosing between Y and J, I tend to look at the 'value' factor. Y if flight is quite empty and you'll most likely get a row to yourself anyways. J becomes 'value' for money usually at peak times when e.g. during xmas J only costs twice as much as Y (for a fully loaded flight), it would otherwise cost 3 times as much other times of the year.

dusanb

Agreed, it's a valuable and interesting question.

On_the_aisle

I think that it should also be pointed out that if you are flying on US Govt money (whether you work for them directly or not) they have very strict rules about Business. And, further, that they do not pay attention to these rules and will rarely approve business-class travel even if the regulations say that it is called for. Further, contractors will very rarely push back. The result is 26-hour trips to Africa in Economy because some desk officer posted out there doesn't see why this is a problem.

txflyer77

My brother recently joined the State Department foreign service and he's very *very* tall. He's gonna have some excruciating flights in his future...

jpr1953

I suspect that a high percentage of folks in (INT) business have their tkts paid by company?

rankourabu

Which is why income is not an indicator of who sits upfront on a plane.
Some of these people can be making very little money and/or have very little vacation time, can just be on their way to present yet another powerpoint to a client, or to sell more broomsticks for their boss.

thesaints

I think it is much more a matter of net worth than of income. My personal criterion is that expenses in the range of 1/10,000 (i.e. 0.01%) of one's total net worth are pretty much irrelevant.
Therefore, if you are worth 10 millions, an extra thousand dollar on top of a coach class ticket is not something you would give a second thought.

Another way to look at it is again based on the price difference between coach and business. If it is, let's say, $2,000 on a JFK-CDG passage, It feels a little silly to drop two grands on a few hours worth of more comfy seating and better food.
For that much one can go three or four times to a 3 michelin star restaurant (and eat really good food), or get a suite at an upscale hotel (and be really comfy for a day, together with your date).

As people flying biz with other people's money, that is not a question to even ask. For them it is a free ticket and I wonder who would ever choose coach, when offered a free ticket in coach, or in business.

catcher1

What "better things"? I am retired, sort of, pay for all my travel, and can't think of a better thing than a ccmfortable lie-flat seat and first-class service.